The CBS reboot of courtroom drama, Matlock, portrayed illegal migrants as victims of the U.S. government and its mean-spirited immigration policies.
The victimization plot was featured in the Season 2 episode, entitled “Collateral,” in which an innocent migrant father is grabbed up in the halls of the court hosue by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents right in front of his kids, Newsbusters noted.
In the opening scene, Jack, the man living in the U.S. illegally for decades, brings his children to the court house so they can watch a court procedure to learn about the legal system. But instead of a nice family outing, ICE agents swarm Jack and arrest him for and mark him for deportation.
Matty Matlock (Kathy Bates) and her lawyer co-workers then speak to the man’s American wife and she tearfully says that they looked into trying to obtain legal citizenship for Jack, but it seemed too risky because if he filed for citizenship, then the government would find out his parents were also living in the U.S. illegally. So, they rejected the idea.
The wife also made the absurd claim that they imagined if they “paid taxes, followed the law, gave back to the community,” then he would never have to face deportation.
Strangely, the episode later revealed that Jack was not nearly so innocent. As a young man, before he got married and had kids, he ended up with a criminal conviction of burglary in the third degree blotting his record. But, wait, there is a nice, woke excuse for this, making Jack a victim all over again.
Turns out, Jack got that conviction as a college student because he was arrested for protesting against his school for buying university supplies from a company that used “sweatshop” labor. See, Jack is a liberal hero, don’t you know.
So, at every turn, the episode portrayed Jack as a poor, innocent, waif who is being unfairly attacked by ICE and the federal government.
The final determination from the immigration court was also portrayed as unfair and made Jack and his family a victim of the evil U.S.A.
He was presented with two choices: deportation “possibly to a third country, where you don’t speak the language,” or a harsh plea deal. That harsh deal included restitution of $6 million for the federal contracting business he built on fraudulent claims, no path to citizenship, and he’d be unable to get legal employment. Essentially, bankrupting his family and making him unable to provide for them.
The episode made Jack and his family into victims and fully excused the fact that for decades he lied to his kids, to his community, and to his professional associates, about being legally allowed to live and work in the U.S.A.
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